About

Languages: Spanish, A Primer (Real)

A Quick Guide To Speaking Spanish

Author:

Date:

Agree? Disagree? :

Have Your Say

Buy Books About This Topic At:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Send This Article To A Friend:

Email It

Use Telepathy

The Spanish language is a Romance language, which means it sounds very much like French and Italian. Actually, it sounds a lot like Italian, and very little like French. It is a direct descendent of Latin, and follows the same backwards [1] sentence structure.

This quick primer is meant only as a way for Field Researchers to quickly and easily voice their concerns and needs while in a Spanish speaking country, while hopefully hunting for someone who speaks a language that the Hitchhiker is more fluent in (for example, English).

This article will utilize basic dialogs, a few quick vocab words, and cut-and-paste sentences [2].

Some quick rules on accenting things in plain text:

Putting a "/" after a letter is an accent mark (example: "a/").
Putting a "~" after a letter means to put it over that letter (example: "n~").

When pronouncing Spanish, remember back to your old Spanish classes. It all sounds about the same as English, but the vowels are a bit different: a=ah, e=ay, i=ee, o=oh, u=uu. To really do well, relax your jaw. Double-r's are to be rolled, and double-l's are pronounced like a 'y'.

NOTE: Not to worry, all of this is correct. The author has been learning this language for over three years, and while he's not yet fluent, he's probably on the home stretch. If, however, you find a mistake, alert him, and he will fix it.

English

Dick: Hello. How are you today?
Jane: Fine, thanks. And yourself?
Dick: I'm a bit tired, and I need some help.
Jane: I'll help you. What do you need?
Dick: Where is the bathroom?
Jane (pointing): Over there.
Dick: Thank you. Where can I buy some food?
Jane: You're welcome... Oh, over there, at that restaurant. Dick: Thanks again! I have to go now, but thank you.
Jane: It was nothing! Good bye!
Dick: Bye!

Spanish

Dick: Hola. Como esta?
Jane: Bien, gracias. Y Usted?
Dick: Estoy cansado, y necesito ayuda.
Jane: Te ayudare/. Que necesitas?
Dick: Donde esta/ el ban~o, por favor?
Jane: Alli/.
Dick: Gracias. Donde puedo comprar una comida?
Jane: De nada... Oh, alli, en ese restaurante.
Dick: Gracias! Tengo que ir, y gracias!
Jane: De nada! Adios!
Dick: Adios!

Important Vocab

the/a bathroom              el/un ban~o
the/a restaurant            el/un restaurante
the/a telephone             el/un telefono
help                        ayuda
money                       dinero
police                      policia
Project Galactic Guide      gui/a del proyecto gala/ctico

Cut and Paste

I need <something>          Necesito <thing>
I need help                 Necesito ayuda.

Where is <something>        Donde esta/ <thing>
Where is the restaurant     Donde esta/ el restaurante?

Do you have <something>     Tiene <thing>
Do you have a telephone     Tiene un telefono?

I do not have <something>   No tengo <thing>.
I do not have it            No lo tengo.

I do not understand         No entiendo.

Do you speak English?       Habla ingles?
Do you speak French?        Habla frances?
Do you speak German?        Habla ale/man?

Do you understand English? Entiende ingles?
Do you understand French? Entiende frances?
Do you understand German? Entiende ale/man?

I do not speak <language> No hablo <language>.

Well, hopefully, that will help you out in your travels through a Spanish country. If you want more information, Spanish classes are always being offered everywhere in the world, and there are a large number of 'Learn Spanish Now!' books everywhere. Good luck!

[1]	In Spanish, when you say "I asked the man for the telephone", it is effectively set up like this: "Him I asked the phone the man." Needless to say, it takes some getting used to.
[2]	A cut and paste sentence is just that: it offers a quick way for tourists to put together strange, useless sentences that make native speakers laugh! Yet, if done the right way, hopefully, you can get your point across with the minimum of muss and fuss.